The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.

Loading ...

Loading ...

This story appears in the {{article.article.magazine.pretty_date}} issue of {{article.article.magazine.pubName}}. Subscribe

PS4 exclusive sci-fi shooter Killzone: Shadow Fall clocked in at a staggering 290GB prior to compression down to 40GB to fit on the PS4's Blu-Ray discs.

"The bulk of it is textures," Guerrilla Games' technical director Michiel van der Leeuw told Eurogamer. "I think we're probably a lot larger than the other cross-generation games, because we have no assets that have been made to a lower spec."

The new Killzone is also much larger than previous titles, with vast open areas that account for much of the game's digital bulk.

"The surface area, I'm just guessing here, must be five to 10 times bigger than Killzone 3 was," van der Leeuw told Eurogamer.

Part of the problem can be traced back to Killzone 3, which was 41.5GB when it launched on PS3. That's because the developers used duplicate texture files and had high-quality movies in different languages all packed into the disc.

When they tried to replicate this with Shadow Fall, the disc quickly jumped to 180GB.

"I think at some point the disc image that we were generating was around 180 gigs," said van der Leeuw. "And if we would have put all the levels in, which we didn't, because then the disc image generator broke, it would have been around 290 gigs of data."

Not only would that not fit on a disc, it would be a ridiculous amount of data to download digitally. But even 40GB is a huge download for a digital purchase, and while the PlayGo system Sony has which allows gamers to download only part of a game prior to playing may help, it will only help so much.

Guerrilla Games estimates about 7.5GB of data will need to be downloaded prior to playing, and players should be able to get through the first level while the second downloads and keep playing uninterrupted---if, that is, they have a decent internet connection.

Of course, the developer is based in Amsterdam which has one of the highest average internet speeds in Europe and among the highest in the world. Many in the United States and elsewhere have comparably poor service.

Killzone Shadow Fall remains one of the most promising next-gen launch titles. Hopefully gameplay will live up to the stunning looking 1080p graphics.